North Island Eagles midget Tyren Dustin (17) gets foiled at the net during the final Tier 3 North round-robin playoff game against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in Port McNeill Saturday, Feb. 7.

North Island Eagles midget Tyren Dustin (17) gets foiled at the net during the final Tier 3 North round-robin playoff game against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in Port McNeill Saturday, Feb. 7.

Eagles Midgets stumble in final round-robin playoff

PORT McNEILL—Squad will travel to Sooke Saturday for Tier 3 semifinal.

The North Island Eagles Midget squad had their wings clipped by the Port Alberni Bulldogs in play-off action Saturday.

The teams started out evenly matched. A solid effort by both squads saw the score tied 1-1 going into the second period break.

The Bulldogs came back with a vengeance scoring five unanswered goals, before a switch in goaltender. The Eagles settled back down and held the Bulldogs to just two more goals in the third. They final score was 8-1.

“We played great in the first period,” said Coach Aaron Hinton.

“Just three minutes after the break killed us,” Hinton said.

“It was just a mental lapse.”

The Eagles finished second in the Tier 3 north division and set their sights on a semifinal matchup in Sooke this weekend. The Midgets face the Thunderbirds at 3 p.m. in an elimination game to determine the final berth into the best-of-3 Vancouver Island Tier 3 championship series.

Juan de Fuca travels to Port Alberni in the other semifinal.

North Island Gazette